For ease of illustration, the various techniques disclosed in this document are discussed in the context of IEEE 802.11-based wireless network. This context is described in the IEEE 802.11 specifications for wireless local area network (WLAN) media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY). However, those of ordinary skill in the art, using the teachings provided in this document, may implement the disclosed techniques in other wireless networks. Accordingly, references to techniques and components specific to IEEE 802.11 apply also to the equivalent techniques or components in other wireless network standards unless otherwise noted.
A mobile station may store in its memory one or more connection profiles. Each connection profile includes a network name, which in IEEE 802.11 is known as a service-set identifier (SSID). The network name uniquely identifies the connection profile in the mobile station, so that no two connection profiles stored in the same mobile station include the same network name. If the mobile station is capable of operating in more than one mode/frequency band, a connection profile may include an indication of the mode in which the network operates. For example, in IEEE 802.11, the mode may be IEEE 802.11a, which operates in the 5 GHz band, or IEEE 802.11b/g, which operates in the 2.4 GHz band.
A connection profile is optionally labeled with a profile label. A connection profile may include indications of other network details, for example, one or more of the following: a security type, a security subtype, an authentication method, and an encryption type. A connection profile may also include credentials for use with the implemented security type or with the authentication method or with both. A non-exhaustive list of examples of credentials includes a passphrase, a username, a password, an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), a certificate, and a certificate having an expiry date.
A connection profile may be created using user-interface components of the mobile station or using Wi-Fi Protection Setup™ (WPS) techniques, and such a connection profile is referred to in this document as a user-created connection profile. For example, it may be sufficient to provide via the user-interface components a network name, an indication of security type, and, if applicable, a set of credentials for the indicated security type, in order to create a user-created connection profile stored in the mobile station.
Alternatively, a connection profile may be provisioned to the mobile station, and such a connection profile is referred to in this document as a provisioned connection profile. For example, a connection profile may be provisioned to the mobile station in native storage space to provide an out-of-the-box experience, or transmitted to the mobile station either over an existing WLAN connection or through an out-of-band channel, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection or a wireless cellular network connection. The source of a provisioned connection profile may be, for example, a manufacturer of the mobile station, an Information Technology (IT) administrator of an enterprise that has purchased the mobile station, or a carrier who controls the sale of the mobile station.
As a further alternative, a connection profile may be installed in the mobile station as part of installation of a third-party application on the mobile station, and such a connection profile is referred to in this document as a third-party connection profile. For example, the source of the third-party connection profile may be the provider of the third-party application, or the third-party connection profile may have been created for the provider of the third-party application by the manufacturer or carrier of the mobile station. A connection profile may include an indication, or one or more indications that collectively indicate, whether the connection profile is a user-created connection profile or a provisioned connection profile or a third-party connection profile.
Connection profiles may be assigned priority relative to each other. The relative priority assigned to a connection profile may be determined by a user of the mobile station or by the source of a provisioned connection profile. The relative priority of connection profiles may affect the order in which those connection profiles are compared to scan results and therefore may also affect the order in which the mobile station attempts to connect to wireless networks having a network name included in those connection profiles. Connection profiles may be created with the lowest relative priority, by default.
A connection profile may be in an enabled state or in a disabled state, and a connection profile may include an indication of whether it is in the enabled state or in the disabled state. A connection profile in the enabled state, referred to in this document as an enabled connection profile, is a candidate for automatic connection attempts by the mobile station if a wireless network having the same network name as the enabled connection profile has been detected in the band indicated in the enabled connection profile with sufficient received signal strength by the mobile station. A connection profile in the disabled state, referred to in this document as a disabled connection profile, is not a candidate for automatic connection attempts by the mobile station.
Regardless of any limit on the number of connection profiles that a mobile station can store, there may be an upper limit on how many of the connection profiles stored in the mobile station can be enabled at the same time. For example, a mobile station may limit the number of enabled connection profiles to 32 or 64.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.